Samsung Alias 2 Launches on Verizon, Features Morphing Keys

Verizon Wireless has launched the Samsung Alias 2, a dual-hinge clamshell with a morphing keyboard that uses the same display technology found on the Amazon Kindle.


The Basking Ridge, N.J.-based carrier said the Alias 2 has a new, innovative keypad powered by E Ink -- the same corporation behind the low-power display on Amazon's Kindle and Kindle 2.

Rather than a jumble of keys with small labels, the handset's keypad actually changes depending on what users are doing. So a QWERTY keypad appears when users are typing a text messages and numeric keys emerge when they are placing a call.

Additional features include a 2.0-megapixel camera with camcorder, VZ Navigator for turn-by-turn directions, VCAST Music and Video for streaming music and video clips, a microSD memory slot, stereo Bluetooth technology and RemoSync to synchronize corporate email, contacts and calendars from office PCs.

The Samsung Alias 2 is available for $80 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement